


Worth The Risk

by lasairfhiona



Category: CSI: NY
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-28
Updated: 2010-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-13 10:32:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/136322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac knows it was worth the risk to get involved with Don.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth The Risk

Mac didn't know if it was the feel of Don's hand lightly caressing his back or it was something else that woke him, but he opened his eyes and found himself staring into Don's vibrant blue eyes.

"Hey..." he said quietly.

"Hey..." Don repeated back at him.

"How long have I been asleep?" Mac asked, shifting slightly so he was on laying on his side facing Don.

"A few hours."

"Did you sleep?" he asked reaching up to gently touch Don's face.  He hoped his lover had gotten some sleep as well.  Don was just as tired as he was and as mentally drained from their last case as he had been.

"Yeah, a few hours.  I woke up not too long ago," Don answered. He'd used the opportunity to watch as Mac slept next to him.  It wasn't often he got to watch his lover sleep so peacefully.  Mac was usually the one watching over him as he slept. He'd given in and ran his hand down his lover's back, still slick from the massage he'd give him earlier to relieve the back pain that had been plaguing him for several days now. 

Mac ran his fingers along Don's cheek and down his neck before reaching around to cup the back of his neck and play with the ends of his hair.  It had been a long journey for them to reach this point in their lives with a lot of ups and downs for both of them.  But he wouldn't trade a minute of the tough times that lead them to this point because without them they might not be here together now.

He remembered when he first met Don, Claire was still alive and Don was still in uniform.  Mac was different then. He hadn't lost the one thing that meant the world to him. It wasn't too long after 9/11, when the rescue workers had gone and the chain link fence surrounding the remains of the towers had gone up that their friendship really began. He'd been standing with his fingers entwined in the fence staring at the twisted remains of the towers wishing for something; Claire to be alive, a body to be found, anything to give him some kind of closure. He hadn't even been aware of the tears running down his cheek when Don found him.  The younger man had been there to add a memorial for his friend who'd worked at one of the brokerage houses who also never made it out of the towers. They'd spent the night drinking and grieving together and by the time the sun rose the next day they had a bond that had been tested over the years, by differences of opinions and out right anger, mostly his with Mac, and other relationships. 

Pulling Don closer until their faces were only scant inches apart, he looped his arm over Don's back and mimicked the caress his lover was giving him.  He could still remember the day Don made detective. He'd been there talking with him when the Captain had come in to give him the good news.  He'd had the privilege to be the first of Don's friends and family to congratulate him on his success.

He would never forget the fear he'd felt when he found Don with his body laid open after the bombing and the wait for him to regain consciousness after the surgery to repair the damage. The thought of losing him was not something he wanted to face, even if he hadn't been fully aware of the depth of his feelings for him then. Don had been the first one he told about his relationship with Peyton. The younger man had been supportive of them and their desire to keep it quiet. It had been hard to tell him when she'd ended it between them.  But as usual Don had been there for him. He'd also been the one to come to Chicago when the 333 things came to a head and Don had been the only one he'd trusted with his childhood secret and why Drew Bedford hated him so much

It was after all of that that things changed for them.  They started spending more and more time together. Don learned to appreciate Mac's jazz music and he learned to at least tolerate Hockey.  Keys were exchanged and more often than not they spent their time and their nights at his place, Don's apartment was kept more for show and convenience when they were too tired to drive to Mac's.

Tonight had been one of those nights. They had both worked a series of double shifts, well Don had, he hadn't been home in a couple days and probably hadn't caught more than an hour or two on his sofa in his office.  but he wasn't about to admit it to his over protective lover, which in and of itself surprised him.  He was the protective one, the one that took care of everyone else. He wasn't use to having the tables turned on him but this was another side of Don that had come to light after Drew Bedford.

With the case closed all he wanted to do was go home and fall into bed and sleep preferably with Don by his side. Stella had the wisdom to take both their car keys and call them a cab since they both lived in the same direction she figured she would be killing two birds with one stone, little did she know they weren't going any further than Don's tiny apartment.

It spoke of just how exhausted he was when all he did was shuck his clothes, simply draping them across a chair before falling face first on the bed with a groan and then a sigh at the relief of finally being horizontal and the knowledge Don would soon be joining him.

Don nudged him toward the center of the bed, straddling him he began to run his hands up and down his back in long slow strokes, applying just enough pressure to relax but not cause him any more pain. With every stroke of Don's hands and every soft compression, he felt the pent up tension melt away. He relaxed as Don worked the sorest areas of his back until they were substantially reduced in size.  He didn't know how long he hung in the half aware state before he'd drifted off to sleep.

According to Don and the clock that had been several hours ago.  Now as he lay inches from the other man he marveled at how much he could feel for Don and was very glad for the risk he'd taken and the journey that eventually brought them together. Every bit of it even the hard parts where they tried to fit into each other's lives and deal with the ghosts was worth this moment of perfect peace together.


End file.
